Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, an updated release of the venerable Dungeons and Dragons role playing game coming from Bioware, has been delayed until November 30, 2012, according to the company’s forum. The Mac and iPad version was scheduled to release in September, sometime soon after a September 18 PC release date.

Now, all three versions will ship at the end of November.

The Enhanced Edition should have all the classic content from the original Baldur’s Gate, along with new characters and storyline. The original game, released in 1998 by Interplay and developed by Bioware, is set in the Forgotten Realms and uses the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition rules. If you’re a D&D geek, you know what we’re talking about. If not, move along; nothing to see here.

Trent Oster, the current president of Overhaul Games, the developer of the Enhanced Edition, posted a message on the Enhanced Edition’s website today with the revised date and an explanation of why the date has slipped. The short answer is that they probably took on too much to get done in time, and have decided to put quality before a specific shipping date. Which is pretty darn good of them, really. It’s much better to get a fully ready game rather than a hurried finished product, bringing down the ire of fans and gamers alike.

Or, maybe it can be explained by the tweet Oster wrote just a bit ago:“Our delay is 100% the fault of Penny Arcade. They advised us against shipping against Borderlands 2 in the comic, so we listened ;-)” Good catch, Jack!

Below is Mr. Oster’s full statement from the forum.

Dear Friends of Baldur’s Gate,

When we first announced Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, you set fire to our servers and we were overwhelmed by the huge wave of support from the fans of the original game.

Once the fires had subsided, thousands of you posted suggestions and requests on our forums. Dozens of volunteers from all over the world helped us improve game play, squash bugs, and generally fine-tune the game. Even more came to help work on translations from English to more than 16 other languages.

Executing on our plan to make the best Baldur’s Gate possible and responding to that overwhelming feedback, we’ve added new characters, areas, and story, creating many new hours of game play. Yet the suggestions, fixes, and translations continue, and more volunteers keep joining.

After recently reviewing the game and then consulting with our partners, we’ve decided to ensure that Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is the best possible product on launch. Thus, we have pushed back the release date of the game. Our plan is to release in November, 2012.

To all who have pre-ordered, we ask for your patience as we move toward our final release date — and we will be working on something a little extra for you. To all who have volunteered, we thank you for your dedication and support.

Another reason, posted on Twitter by Trent was to avoid launching at the same time a Borderlands 2.

Rob LeFebvre

Another reason, posted on Twitter by Trent was to avoid launching at the same time a Borderlands 2.

Ooh, good find.

About the author

Rob LeFebvre is an Anchorage, Alaska-based writer and editor who has contributed to various tech, gaming and iOS sites, including 148Apps, Creative Screenwriting, Shelf-Awareness, VentureBeat, and Paste Magazine. Feel free to find Rob on Twitter @roblef, and send him a cookie once in a while; he'll really appreciate it.

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